Introduced in House — H.R. 291

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 291

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 9, 2025

Mr. Langworthy (for himself and Ms. Tokuda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To amend the Rural Innovation Stronger Economy Grant Program of the Department of Agriculture.

Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Creating Access to Rural Employment and Education for Resilience and Success Act or the CAREERS Act.

Sec. 2. Workforce training programs

(a) In general

Section 379I of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w) is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a)—

(A)

in paragraph (1)(A)—

(i)

in clause (iii)—

(I)

by striking subclause (I) and inserting the following:

(I)
an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101, and subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 102(a)(1), of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002(a)(1)));;

(II)

by redesignating subclauses (II) and (III) as subclauses (III) and (IV), respectively, and inserting after subclause (I) the following:

(II)
an area career and technical education school (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302);; and

(III)

in subclause (IV) (as so redesignated by subclause (II) of this clause), by striking and;

(ii)

in clause (iv)—

(I)

by striking subclause (IV) and inserting the following:

(IV)
an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101, and subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 102(a)(1), of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002(a)(1)));; and

(II)

by redesignating subclause (V) as subclause (VI) and inserting after subclause (IV) the following:

(V)
an area career and technical education school (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302); or; and

(iii)

by adding at the end the following:

(v)
in the case of a career pathway program, includes 1 or more member of the local workforce development board established under section 107 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and serving the region to ensure such program is integrated with the activities carried out by the local workforce development board; and; and

(B)

by adding at the end the following:

(6) Career pathway
The term career pathway has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
(7) Industry or sector partnership
The term industry or sector partnership has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).;

(2)

in subsection (b)—

(A)

in paragraph (1)—

(i)

in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting carry out career pathway programs or industry or sector partnerships aligned with industry sectors in rural communities before the 3rd comma;

(ii)

in subparagraph (A), by striking and at the end;

(iii)

in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and

(iv)

by adding at the end the following:

(C)
address workforce challenges faced by specific industry sectors in rural communities; and
(D)
promote targeted skills development initiatives to stimulate innovation and enhance economic development in rural regions.;

(B)

in paragraph (3)—

(i)

in subparagraph (A)—

(I)

in clause (i), by inserting career pathway program, or industry or sector partnerships before the semicolon; and

(II)

in clause (ii)—

(aa)

by inserting career pathway program, or industry or sector partnerships before to provide; and

(bb)

by inserting leadership development, before customized;

(ii)

in subparagraph (E), by striking and at the end;

(iii)

in subparagraph (F), by striking the period and inserting ; and; and

(iv)

by adding at the end the following:

(G)
the ability of the eligible entity to carry out activities to address the issues of worker displacement, an aging workforce, and youth migration.; and

(C)

by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the following;

(5) Geographic distribution
The Secretary shall ensure regional diversity of recipients of grants or participants in providing grants under paragraph (1) for jobs accelerators, career pathway programs, industry or sector partnerships, and related programming.;

(3)

in subsection (d)(1)—

(A)

in subparagraph (B), by striking the period and inserting ; or; and

(B)

by adding at the end the following:

(C)
to support career pathway programs or industry or sector partnerships to be carried out in industries in rural communities, including—
(i)
telecommunications or broadband services;
(ii)
water, waste water, and disposal services;
(iii)
electric supply services;
(iv)
conservation practices and management;
(v)
health care;
(vi)
child care;
(vii)
manufacturing;
(viii)
agribusiness related to production, processing, and distribution; and
(ix)
any other sectors that are identified by the local workforce development board serving the region to be an in-demand industry sector or occupation, as defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.;

(4)

in subsection (e)—

(A)

in paragraph (1), by striking and at the end;

(B)

in paragraph (2)(B)—

(i)

in clause (xvii), by striking or at the end; and

(ii)

by redesignating clause (xviii) as clause (xix) and inserting after clause (xvii) the following:

(xviii)
the number of individuals who have completed skills development, recognized postsecondary credentials, or gained specialized education through career pathways programs or industry or sector partnership; or; and

(iii)

in clause (xix) (as so redesignated by clause (ii) of this subparagraph), by striking the period and inserting ; and; and

(C)

by adding at the end the following:

(3)
in the case of a career pathway program or industry or sector partnership, report to the Secretary the employment and earnings outcomes for individuals who participate in the program on the indicators described in subclauses (I) through (III) of section 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.; and

(5)

in subsection (f), by striking 2019 through 2023 and inserting 2025 through 2030.

(b) Effective date

The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on such date as the Secretary of Agriculture shall determine, which shall be not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.